Posted:
#1
I don't post much and have not posted a game this year at all in the NBA forums but I want to share some input for this game.
Someone mentioned about "situational" plays the other day that convinced them to take the Raptors ML against Portland even though the books were giving Raptors +3 (moot point since they got blown out anyways) because Portland were missing Batum and Matthews and thus they concluded the Raptors bench would outplay the Blazers bench. Funny thing though is that they didn't take into account who had a better starting 5.
Which brings us to tonight's game. IF there was every a situational play, this has to fall into that category. A line hasn't been released yet because I guess we're still waiting word on some of the Raptors key players (Lowry, Bargnani). But it don't matter - whatever the line is, I am going to pound the Nets hard.
I'm actually glad the Nets lost to the Knicks because now there should be no let down and I'm sure they'll be pissed as hell blowing a 17 pt lead to the Knicks. What better team to take out some frustration than the lowly Raptors?
The Raptors are in a mess right now - and that itself is an understatement. Being from around the area, there is huge speculation of the following: Bargnani, Calderon or Fields being traded, Coach Casey being fired, GM B.C. being fired or all of the above. Colangelo has publicly scolded his team calling their play "embarrassing". And what do the Raptors do in response to those comments? Get blown out the next day by the Clippers and then Monday by Portland.
They just came back from a long West road trip where they went 0-5 and have had 1 day off only. There's a case in point to fade teams in these situations. To make matters worse, Amir Johnson will not play tonight because he will be serving a 1 game suspension for throwing his mouth guard at a ref during Monday's game in frustration. Really, who throws a mouth piece at someone? Bargnani and Lowry are both questionable after leaving Monday's game but most likely will not be playing according to reports I have read. They're already without the services of Landry Fields. This means their STARTING 5 could be: Calderon, DeRozan, Kleiza, Ed Davis and Valanciunas. Good luck with that. Their bench could be made up of: Pietrus, John Lucas, Terrance Ross and Aaron Gray. Honestly, put up your hands if you drafted any of those players mentioned above in your fantasy bball league. I know I didn't.
The Raptors season is done folks. I'm sad because I'm a Raptors fan. But we're done. The team has given up. We are playing to PROTECT our lottery draft pick now that we gave to Houston for Lowry. Something's going to happen soon to this team in the next week or so and I'm guessing either BC or Casey is gone. B.C. has publicly said on radio stations that it's not a "talent issue". Read in between the lines folks - if it's not talent it's coaching. And I have to agree with B.C. here too. The Raptors on paper are better than last year's version but for some reason cannot do any thing right at the moment.
And if none of the above has resonated with you yet and you find yourself wanting to play the Raptors tonight, ask yourself this one simple question:
Would you want to back a team that can't even COVER ATS against a Portland team that shot 0-20 beyond the arc Monday night and still ended up LOSING BY 18 pts. A team that shot 0-20 in 3's and still won by 18 pts. Had they even hit 25% of those shots, they would have won by over 30 pts.
That's how bad this Raptors team is. I think the line will be Nets -8 and I will be willing to play up to Nets -9.
Good luck all.
Someone mentioned about "situational" plays the other day that convinced them to take the Raptors ML against Portland even though the books were giving Raptors +3 (moot point since they got blown out anyways) because Portland were missing Batum and Matthews and thus they concluded the Raptors bench would outplay the Blazers bench. Funny thing though is that they didn't take into account who had a better starting 5.
Which brings us to tonight's game. IF there was every a situational play, this has to fall into that category. A line hasn't been released yet because I guess we're still waiting word on some of the Raptors key players (Lowry, Bargnani). But it don't matter - whatever the line is, I am going to pound the Nets hard.
I'm actually glad the Nets lost to the Knicks because now there should be no let down and I'm sure they'll be pissed as hell blowing a 17 pt lead to the Knicks. What better team to take out some frustration than the lowly Raptors?
The Raptors are in a mess right now - and that itself is an understatement. Being from around the area, there is huge speculation of the following: Bargnani, Calderon or Fields being traded, Coach Casey being fired, GM B.C. being fired or all of the above. Colangelo has publicly scolded his team calling their play "embarrassing". And what do the Raptors do in response to those comments? Get blown out the next day by the Clippers and then Monday by Portland.
They just came back from a long West road trip where they went 0-5 and have had 1 day off only. There's a case in point to fade teams in these situations. To make matters worse, Amir Johnson will not play tonight because he will be serving a 1 game suspension for throwing his mouth guard at a ref during Monday's game in frustration. Really, who throws a mouth piece at someone? Bargnani and Lowry are both questionable after leaving Monday's game but most likely will not be playing according to reports I have read. They're already without the services of Landry Fields. This means their STARTING 5 could be: Calderon, DeRozan, Kleiza, Ed Davis and Valanciunas. Good luck with that. Their bench could be made up of: Pietrus, John Lucas, Terrance Ross and Aaron Gray. Honestly, put up your hands if you drafted any of those players mentioned above in your fantasy bball league. I know I didn't.
The Raptors season is done folks. I'm sad because I'm a Raptors fan. But we're done. The team has given up. We are playing to PROTECT our lottery draft pick now that we gave to Houston for Lowry. Something's going to happen soon to this team in the next week or so and I'm guessing either BC or Casey is gone. B.C. has publicly said on radio stations that it's not a "talent issue". Read in between the lines folks - if it's not talent it's coaching. And I have to agree with B.C. here too. The Raptors on paper are better than last year's version but for some reason cannot do any thing right at the moment.
And if none of the above has resonated with you yet and you find yourself wanting to play the Raptors tonight, ask yourself this one simple question:
Would you want to back a team that can't even COVER ATS against a Portland team that shot 0-20 beyond the arc Monday night and still ended up LOSING BY 18 pts. A team that shot 0-20 in 3's and still won by 18 pts. Had they even hit 25% of those shots, they would have won by over 30 pts.
That's how bad this Raptors team is. I think the line will be Nets -8 and I will be willing to play up to Nets -9.
Good luck all.
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